Technical Documents

Technical Documents provide a specific focus and in-depth information on some of the key issues surrounding sustainable urban transport for a broader audiance. Authors for these documents are experts in urban transport who combine strong academic backgrounds with extensive experience in the field.

SUTP Technical Document #1 - Demystifying Induced Travel Demand

“If we build it, they will come”: The question of induced travel demand attracts substantial interest from decision-makers, planners and the wider public alike. This technical document is intended as an introduction to the concept of induced travel demand and the principal arguments and debates surrounding the phenomenon.

First edition: 2009.

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SUTP Technical Document #2 - Social Change and Urban Transport

Despite the growing awareness of the need of sustainability in transport planning, there have been few projects and initiatives investigating and working upon social aspects of transport, the third of the main pillars of sustainability. This document describes the many complexities of the social dimension of transport that should be taken into account when analysing existing policies and developing new ones. It provides a description of the main issues to be tackled, the main stakeholders in the local and international/multilateral levels, and an indication as to how social impact assessment can help to deliver uniform benefits.

The objective of this technical document is to familiarize city authorities, transport planners, businesses, civil society representatives and policy makers in developing cities with the concept and components of a public bicycle program. It presents the experience of bike sharing programs from a few cities in Europe and Asia, and analyses the developing country climate (taking India as an example) for encouraging such programs in developing cities.

This report summarises the development of the German public transport alliance system, the so called Verkehrsverbund that is often regarded as the first and most successful form of integrated transport in the world. It offers information on aspects ranging from institutional issues to best practices in introducing an integrated fare system. This document also looks at transport alliances in the neighbouring country of Switzerland. Additionally it provides further reading and links on additional aspects of public transport alliances and public transport integration.

A practical guide for developing country's governments on how to access climate funds for sustainable land transport interventions, focusing on climate change mitigation and existing and proposed sources of climate finance in the context of the land transport sector.

First edition: 2010.

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This paper shows how national and/or urban low-carbon transportation policies could help countries to achieve a smart, sustainable economic growth while at the same time stabilizing and later reducing transport emissions. Sustainable development policies and measures in the transport sector include a variety of co-benefits, e.g. reduced air pollution, social equity and economic development.

First edition: 2011.

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SUTP Technical Document #7 - Sustainable Transport Evaluation

The study outlines options for choosing appropriate indicators and evaluation schemes for sustainable transport. It also summarizes the benefits of an evaluation scheme not only for national and local governments, but also for donors and the scientific community.

Developing cities are facing the crisis of increasing automobiles and thereby the consequences such as reduced air quality, road safety and economic loss. This document addresses the issue of rising automobile dependency with examples from Zurich, Switzerland; Copenhagen, Denmark; Muenster and Freiburg, Germany, and Curitiba, Brazil.

This technical document describes the role that performance measurement can play in public transportation planning and management, the need for developing cities to adopt performance evaluation and the steps for initiating this. The document also presents examples on performance measurement from various cities across the world and their experiences.

The Technical Document explains what corruption is, and why it is so detrimental for economy and society. It gives hints how corruption in the transport sector may be detected, and what can be done to prevent corruption in the transport sector.

Understanding transport demand and transport elasticities is crucial to support sustainable travel behaviour. This document explains the key factors affecting travel demand and its responsiveness. It introduces the concept of transport elasticity and provides an overview of the key transport elasticities. More sustainable travel patterns can be achieved through the implementation of effective policy measures that influence the responsiveness of travel demand to various transport options.

This report aims to evaluate the potential and the necessary political support structure for the implementation of carsharing services in emerging economies. It also includes a practitioner’s contribution from the City of Bremen, one of the leading municipalities in Germany with regard to support for car sharing schemes. The report has been prepared in cooperation with GIZ projects based in the PR China.

The document reviews approaches for Urban Mobility Plans (UMP) from various countries and showcases a growing number of examples calling for a shift away from the traditional, infrastructure-oriented approach towards sustainable and people-oriented planning. The paper’s intension is to support local policy-makers and planners in shaping urban mobility planning processes and policies in an effective and inclusive manner.

First edition: 2014.

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SUTP Technical Document #14 - On-Street Parking Managment

The document provides an overview of the different approaches to on-street parking management and provides advice to policy makers dealing with problems arising from unmanaged on-street parking. It addresses common problems that occur from illegal parking and circulating traffic searching for parking and points out approaches to overcome them. This includes information on the appropriate physical design of on-street parking as well as on the institutional basics and adequate tools for fee collection and pricing.

First edition: 2016.

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SUTP Technical Document #15 - Electromobility

In the cities of Asia and Latin America, increasing population density and motorization are leading to a rapid rise in transport and environmental problems. The aim of this paper is to show how E-mobility can help mitigate the challenges, and to derive recommendations for the use of Electromobility in meeting various targets and prerequisites. The paper shows the diverse range of E-mobility applications and provides a snapshot of the various support schemes and pilot projects that have been carried out in recent years.

First edition: 2016.

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SUTP Technical Document #16 - Taxis as a Part of Public Transport

Taxis are an instantly recognisable form of transport, found in almost every city in the world. However, the role that taxis play varies from city to city - "taxi" does not refer to the same concept everywhere. This report discusses the merits of different regulatiory systems fir the taxi industry. It provides a guide for evaluating different forms of taxi regulation and assesses which system is most suited to particular cities in question.

This report provides an insight into the current status and future prospects of the electrification revolution of the motor vehicle industry in China. Environmental impact assessments of pilot projects with hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV) are summarized and further recommendations for tackling China’s climate and environmental challenges are proposed.

Download here (Version 2.0, 2013): (Click on the flag for the respective language)

Technical Document - Introducing Congestion Charging

Forty years after its first implementation, congestion charging remains a highly underused policy, even if implemented policies have shown to be highly successful. In this guide, international experts involved in assessing the congestion charging policy for Beijing have summarised their experience with congestion charging and address the two main reasons why congestion charging remains an uncommon policy instrument.

This report supports the activities to assess the availability and characteristics of data required for establishing a GHG emission quantification model in Chinese cities. Such a model would significantly aid the Chinese government’s efforts to address energy security and climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

In response to increasing demand for mobility, the report examines various approaches aiming at more sustainable and efficient energy usage in the transport sector. Such approaches would inevitably involve investment in technological inventions as well as require the intensification of international cooperation.

First edition: 2014.

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Technical Document - GHG Reporting and Inventorying in Germany

This report aims to provide information on GHG emissions, an overview of the institutionalisation of inventory planning, preparation and management as well as a general description of the data and methods used for the calculation of transport related emissions. Thus the report provides insight on Germany’s efforts to reduce its emissions as part of the Kyoto Protocol.

This report reviews existing data, policies and international donor activity in the area of sustainable transport in Thailand, in order to provide policy-makers, researchers, international donors and other stakeholders a reference document for sustainable transport and climate change.

First edition: 2014.

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Technical Document - Transport Readiness for Climate Finance

The paper provides an insight into transport climate finance from both public and private sources and identifies components of readiness to access transport climate finance. Readiness is a process of improving conditions to access financing and leveraging investment in the recipient country, so that they reflect the capability to plan for, access, and operationalize financing, and to monitor and report on impacts.

First edition: 2013.

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Technical Document - Reducing Carbon Emissions through TDM Strategies

The report discusses examples of transport demand management, in order to examine how TDM strategies can offer truly sustainable solutions for increased motor vehicle travel and associated traffic problems and help to achieve multiple planning objectives in Beijing.

First edition: 2012.

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Financing Sustainable Urban Transport - The International Review of National Urban Transport Policies and Programmes

The study presents an analysis of a variety of financing and planning practices worldwide in order to help decision-makers identify suitable elements for their local context. While focusing on decision-makers in China, the study is also relevant for other countries facing similar challenges. It presents insights into financing arrangements for urban transport in eight countries: Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Mexico, The United Kingdom and the United States of America.